General Question

Do I have still have to pay for BlueCross Insurance?

Tomorrow, i am signing papers for my elderly mother to be taken care of by Medicaid. She is 92. Question: Will Medicaid pay for all her medical needs or will I still have to pay for BlueCross Insurance for her as a supplement plan? Her BlueCross health insurance costs $636.00 paid quartely.

5 Answers

In my state you have to be indigent to be on Medicaid. That means you are living below the poverty guidelines. If you are living below those guidelines, you are not expected to carry supplemental insurance. Are you paying for her BC iinsurance or is she? I think Medicaid covers all including prescriptions. 92 is a lot of living!
Does she have Medicare?

I’m not 100% on this, but her Medicaid/Medicare should be absolutely fine, especially at her age! Medicaid has that Part A and Part B, which is Hospital/Doctors and then pharmaceutical. There are the normal prescription co-pays and office co-pays, but they are relatively low. Most people at that age can’t afford a secondary insurance and rely primarily on their Medicare. Just call Medicaid and find out specifically. They will tell you. Then you can drop that $600 like a hot potato! [Plus, having two insurance carriers is a pain in the as*. Can be a lot of “No, YOU pay!” kinda thing.]

I’m so sorry. That’s awful. The only way to answer is to call Medicaid or get her plan and look on the website. It’s all very specific. OR ask the nursing home, “My Mother just switched to Medicaid. What will that mean in terms of out-of-pocket expenses?”

I’m sure you know this already, but it’s good to be clear: Medicaid ≠ Medicare.

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My understanding is similar to @chyna‘s… your grandmother must be completely out of assets with no real income in order to be eligible for Medicaid.

If she is eligible, that typically means she cannot afford to pay for private insurance. And then the idea is that Medicaid picks up all of those bills. So, to answer your question directly, no, you don’t need to continue to pay private insurance.